Caught
by jls62113
Summary: Carl and Enid are caught in his bedroom. Family-centric one shot.


**Wait For Love**

"Are you sure?" Enid whispered following Carl into his house.

"Yeah. My dad's out working on the east wall, and Michonne is on guard duty.

They quickly went up the stairs to Carl's room.

Aaron stood at the bottom of the ladder to the guard post waiting for Michonne to climb down.

"Thanks for taking my shift."

"No problem. How's Eric doing?"

"Much better thank you. Have a good morning." Aaron said climbing the ladder.

"Thank you, I will." Michonne said walking toward home.

"Hey!" Rick said catching up to her.

"Hey yourself."

"Could you please ask Carl to come to the east wall? We're going to need help."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just short of man power. What are your plans for this morning?"

"Hot shower, cool sheets." She said yawning.

"Care for some company?"

"If you don't care if I fall asleep on you."

"You would actually fall asleep on me?" He said pulling her to him by her waist and giving her a quick kiss.

"Well not on purpose." She said smiling. "I'll see you later this afternoon,"

"Enjoy your nap."

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek and continued on her walk home.

Michonne opened the door and walked in the house. She was totally dead on her feet. Aaron woke them up at midnight and asked Michonne to take his shift.

She carried her katana up the stairs and headed to Carl's room. She heard giggling, that wasn't Judith. Then silence followed by more giggling.

"Carl?" She called out. She stood outside the closed door and heard footsteps running around the room and then the window opening. She opened the door to catch a half dressed Enid with one leg out the window, and Carl in the bed with his shirt off.

"Stop!" Michonne called to Enid.

Her glare went from Carl to Enid and then back to Carl.

"Get dressed and downstairs now, and Enid if you leave through that window I'll hunt you down."

Michonne left the door open and went downstairs. She stood in the middle of the living floor with her arms folded. Enid came down first and Michonne motioned to her to sit on the couch. Carl was close behind putting his shirt on.

"Carl sit down please." Michonne was livid.

Enid had never seen Michonne angry and regretted coming home with Carl.

"Obviously the two of you thought no one would be home. Is this something you do often?"

"No." Carl said.

Michonne inhaled deeply relieved this wasn't a habit.

"Was this the first time you tried this?"

"Yes." Carl nodded.

"Please explain to me what the two of you were thinking and what exactly was your plan?"

"We were going to listen to music and read comics."

"What happened to that plan?"

"I kissed him." Enid blurted out.

Michonne bit her bottom lip totally understanding, but continued.

"You kissed him and suddenly your clothes fell off?"

Carl and Enid looked at each other.

"That was a stupid question, but right now I'm very angry and disappointed in you Carl."

"What did we do wrong?" Carl said.

Enid looked at Carl and then back at Michonne. Michonne's look softened a little, and she cleared her throat. Instead of continuing and possibly giving Carl a negative view of intimacy, she would talk to him alone, and then he needs to talk to his father.

"Enid, I need to talk to Carl alone, can you please go to the east wall and ask Rick to come home, that I need to talk to him. Oh, and Enid, come back over later tonight for dinner?" Michonne managed a smile.

"Yeah, sure." Enid said looking shocked over at Carl.

"See you later Enid." Carl said nodding at her.

"I'm sorry Carl. I shouldn't be angry with you over things you don't know. You need to talk to your father about this."

"About sex."

"Yes. It shouldn't be taken lightly, and never between people who are so young."

Rick walked in the door quicker than Michonne thought he would.

"Is everything alright?"

"Carl, go up to your room, your dad will be up in a minute."

Carl got up and went to his room, Rick looked curiously at Michonne and waited patiently to hear what she had to say.

Michonne turned to Rick and looked into his eyes.

"Have you talked to Carl about sex?"

Rick's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"Apparently he didn't think anyone would be home at this time. He and Enid…"

"Were having sex?" Rick's face turned red with both embarrassment and anger.

"Almost. They were very close to it when I got here. What struck me as strange was that Carl didn't see anything wrong with their actions."

Rick looked at Michonne. Trusting her in all things, especially with the welfare and well-being of his children.

"He needs _that_ talk Rick."

"He was too young before, then after the outbreak we were always running, dealing with people trying to kill us. That was the last thing on anyone's mind."

"Until now." Michonne said flatly.

"Until now. When he was born, that was one of the first things I thought about; one day having that talk with him, and what I would teach him about being with a woman."

"I can't imagine a more expert, respectful, gentle man than you are in that area."

He looked at Michonne and smiled. What man wouldn't appreciate a compliment like that?

"When I was his age I was scared to death even just thinking about sex."

"You had an advantage over Carl, you grew up when things were normal. He was surrounded by adults during his formative years. He behaves like and thinks he is an adult. Why not choose someone his age to love."

"You think he's in love with her?"

"I don't know, but he's seen Maggie and Glenn together, you and me. I'm just glad what he's seen has been positive."

Rick nodded.

"You look tired. Get your shower and go to bed. I'll talk to Carl now."

"Oh, I invited Enid to dinner tonight. I don't want her thinking that she and Carl can't be friends."

Rick nodded and followed Michonne upstairs.

Rick was upset with Carl, but he understood. He had been fifteen once, and almost in the same situation.

"Carl I need to apologize to you for not talking to you sooner about women."

"When was there time?"

"There never was, but I also see how little time you and I have spent talking."

Rick rubbed at his eyebrow with this thumb.

"Relationships can be good, but they are also complicated."

"Dad, I know about sex."

"How?" Rick said extremely curious to know.

"Shane."

"Shane?" Rick was furious. Shane was the last person to talk to anyone about sex, especially Carl.

"What did he tell you?"

Carl went on to explain what Shane had told him, and suddenly Rick changed his mind about how he felt about Carl learning about sex from Shane. What he told him was clearly not how Shane himself felt about sex. Shane told him how he knew Rick and Lori would have told him. Shane really had loved Carl.

"Okay, good, but you need to have respect for the girl above all else."

"I respect her Dad."

"Enough to where if she said no, she means no?"

"Of course. We were just kissing Dad."

"If that's so, then you and Enid were about to have sex then?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure how far we would have gone."

"Son, you were in the bed, not on the bed. Sex would have happened, trust me. Are you ready to be a father?"

"No." Carl said looking surprised Rick mentioned fatherhood

"Every time you have sex, there's the possibility that could happen. You know very well what could go wrong, and how your mom had a hard time. You will get to a point where you won't be able to stop, and since there is always the possibility of pregnancy, you should know exactly how far you can go before you reach the point you can't return from. It's not just her getting pregnant that could be a problem, but when a woman gives that part of herself to you, that act alone ties her to you emotionally, and if you're not willing to take that on, you shouldn't have sex until you're ready for that as well. That's why you should wait until you're older."

Rick sat down on the bed next to Carl.

"What if you meet someone you like better? For a man it's easy to walk away. Getting emotionally tied down can be difficult for a man. When I was ready to get emotionally involved I got married. Before that, I dated girls, but there was something missing."

"What was that?"

"It's not easy to explain, but it's that thing that lets you know when you meet that person who makes all the difference in your life."

"Do you like being married?"

"Yes I do. It's solid and safe. You have that person in your life you can trust with anything and everything in your life, even your life."

"It feels like home."

Rick smiled.

"In a way yes. When it's good, that's when you feel safe."

"You and mom didn't get along very well did you?"

Rick was shocked, almost forgetting how observant children can be.

"I loved your mother Carl, but it was difficult at times, especially towards the end."

"Was it because she loved you and Shane?"

Rick nearly choked on the air he was breathing. He never wanted Carl to know anything about that.

"I-I don't blame her for caring about Shane, Carl. She thought I was dead."

"I saw how sad she was all the time, and Shane made her laugh."

Rick started to feel uncomfortable. Shane had been his best friend, but he didn't want to think of his ex-wife with him, no matter the circumstances.

"I can see that you're happier with Michonne. She's good for you, for us."

"Yes she is. I've been blessed in my life to have been loved by two women. Wait for love Carl, it's worth it."

Carl looked out the window making Rick think that he had something else on his mind.

"Are you in love with Enid?"

"I don't know Dad. I like her a lot."

"Then just like her for now, and don't worry about tomorrow. Enjoy the time you spend with her. Don't rush anything."

"Okay Dad." 

Rick left Carl in his room and went to his and Michonne's bedroom. She was just coming out of the shower.

"How did it go?"

"Better than I thought. Shane told him about the birds and bees."

"Shane?"

"Yeah, the way I would have told him."

Michonne exhaled.

"Good." She said.

"I told him to enjoy his relationship with Enid without adding sex to the mix."

She nodded.

"I was worried."

"I know, Mom." Rick said smiling. "One down, one to go. Thank God she's a girl and it'll be your turn."

"I'll have some practice. I'm going to talk to Enid when she comes back."

"Okay, I need to get back to the wall."

"Will you be in time for dinner?"

"I will."

Rick kissed Michonne and left.

Shortly before dinner, Michonne led Enid out to the porch.

"Is he in trouble?" Enid asked Michonne.

"He's not in trouble, but his father needed to talk to him about what you two were about to do."

"What is there to talk about, we were just kissing."

"We can't stop you and Carl from seeing each other; we don't want that, and honestly we can't even stop you from having sex, but we want you two to be smart with your choices."

"We were just kissing." Enid said again.

Michonne tilted her head sideways seriously looking at Enid.

"Enid, the two of you were practically naked."

Enid looked away from Michonne's gaze and out across the street.

"Kissing leads to more. Do you think he wouldn't want to touch you once he's seen your naked body?"

Enid was uncomfortable talking about this. Michonne could see that, but needed to press on.

"At your age you should be enjoying each other's company, not trying to make babies."

"We weren't trying to make babies."

"That's how you make them. Sex was created to populate the earth, and for a husband and wife to enjoy intimacy with each other."

"Did you wait until you were married?"

Michonne looked at Enid and nearly smiled.

"No. We don't all get it right, but that's what sex is for."

"I miss my mother." Enid said looking at the ground.

"I miss mine too. Especially the way she could make me feel better when I felt so bad."

Enid looked at Michonne with tears in her eyes. Michonne wanted to embrace her, but she was not sure if Enid would accept that.

Enid rushed forward and put her arms around Michonne's waist.

"Stop running Enid. I know you used to talk to Maggie, but you can talk to me too, and the next time we go to the Hilltop, you can come with us."

Enid nodded her head. "Okay, thank you."

Enid wiped away her tears and smiled.

"Wanna talk about Carl now?" Michonne said smiling brightly.

They sat down on the floor of the porch and Enid talked to Michonne with ease.

"I was the one who suggested we come here today."

"I know. I'm not Carl's birth mother, but I am his mother. He's a very nice boy, but he's complicated. He's had to grow up a lot faster than most children his age, as you have, but Carl's experiences are different than yours. Has he told you about his journey here?"

"Some of it."

"Be patient with him, and what you don't know about him, ask him, he'll tell you. He's a good and kind boy, but in a lot of ways he's hard, like his father, and some of the things he does you may not understand, but he does try to do the right thing."

Enid managed to smile at Michonne.

"How did you meet Rick?"

Michonne smiled thoughtfully looking down at the floor they were sitting on.

"When I met them, they were living in a prison. Maggie, Glenn, Maggie's father and sister, Rick, Carl, Judith, Carol and Daryl. We didn't like each other very much when we met because when you're out there, not in a nice community like this, it's hard to trust people. He didn't trust me, and I didn't trust him, but once we started working together, going out on runs, the relationship I had with Carl, we became friends."

"When did you know you loved him?"

"A short time after we met. I liked his leadership and his kindness. He's a good man, and I think he's hot." Michonne said winking at Enid.

Enid giggled.

"I think Carl's hot too." Enid said giggling some more.

Rick walked up the steps while they were giggling. He smiled as he walked past them.

"Don't mind me ladies."

"Hey." Michonne said looking up.

"Hi Mr. Grimes."

"You can call me Rick Enid. I'm going to get cleaned up before dinner."

The four of them and Judith sat down to eat dinner. Rick and Michonne noticed how easily Carl and Enid talked to each other. They laughed and Enid poked fun at how odd Carl looked without his hat on. They enjoyed each other's company that was clear. Rick gave Michonne a look she understood. They would need to keep an eye of them. If they were in love with each other, with the way the world was, they could succumb to the pressure of knowing how quickly life could change.


End file.
